In vitro Screening and Characterizing the Most Promising Antagonistic Microorganism as Biocontrol Agent(s) Against Colletotrichum kahawae

Coffee berry disease (CBD) caused by Colletotrichum kahawae causes yield loss of more than 50% if not controlled with the appropriate fungicides or/and resistant cultivars. This study was aimed to screen indigenous coffeeassociated microorganisms for their inherent antagonistic potential. From a total of 4323 microorganisms isolates tested, over 3% exhibited remarkable inhibition against C. kahawae. 13 bacterial isolate showed maximum inhibition of mycelial growth against the fungal pathogen tested. Among the yeast and fungal isolate 11 and 9 islates were most antagonistic to C. kahawae respectively. Twenty four isolates produced antibiosis, 5 isolates showed micoparacitic activity and 4 islates produced enzyme. The result indicated the species richness of indigenous coffee in Ethiopia which can be explored for their beneficial application as biological control. The in vitro results provide the first evidence of an antagonistic effect of coffee associated microorganisms against the CBD and potential of all bacterial, yeast and fungal groups for biological control of CBD.